At Least It Wasn't the Fourth Wall Again
}} Haley faces off against Tsukiko once more. Cast * Haley Starshine ◀ ▶ * Ho Thanh (dominated) ◀ ▶ * Tsukiko ◀ ▶ * Boot Wight ◀ ▶ Transcript Tsukiko: Six....seven.... Tsukiko is struck by three of Haley's flaming arrows, "fffffthunk! thunk! thunk!" Tsukiko: AAARGH! Boot Wight: No, Mistress, it's "eight," not "aaargh". Haley stands on a tall building, bow in hand. '' '''Haley': You want a piece of me, Tsukiko? Come up here and take it! Haley: You and me, Round Four! Tsukiko: Sounds like fun, let me just erase those Sneak Attacks. Tsukiko: Cure Critical Wounds! Tsukiko: Paladin, I've been wounded by that thief. Use your Lay on Hands ability to heal me the rest of the way. Thanh touches Tsukiko's heel just as she takes flight. Tsukiko: There, good as new, almost. Tsukiko: Fireball. Haley evades the fireball. Haley: Hey, can someone explain to me why I'm always fighting skanky chicks who can fly? Haley: I mean, Sabine, Samantha, Tsukiko... I bet even the druid's hawk was some sort of bird-hussy. Haley: I should take a level of ranger so I can choose Favored Enemy (Airborne Tramp). Haley strafes to the right, firing another arrow and readying the next. Tsukiko: Tramp?!? Pfft, you're just jealous of my dark mysterious beauty. Haley: Oh, no, sister. I've been down that fashion road before. Tsukiko casts another spell, likely Burning Hands. Haley: Sure, the black clothes look sexy, but eventually you turn, like, seventeen and realize that all your dark middle-class angst isn't really that meaningful in a world where literal flesh-and-blood demons eat people from time to time. Haley fires three more flaming arrows, the third of which missing. Tsukiko: Screw this! Tsukiko: Invisibility! Tsukiko removes the two arrows from her body. Haley: What? Giving up already? I thought we'd have a few more rounds of me effortlessly dodging your spells while making you look like a goth porcupine. Haley rolls, "tumble!" Tsukiko (invisible): Why bother? Tsukiko (invisible):You're right, Haley. You can dodge any spell that I can cast at you that allows a Reflex save. Tsukiko (invisible): That's why after our last fight... Tsukiko (invisible): ...I looked up a few evocations that use attack rolls instead. Tsukiko (partly invisible): Electric Orb. Haley: Hey, that's not a core sp— The spell charges in Tsukiko's hand. Tsukiko fires the Electric Orb, "zzzzzzzzzz", shattering the comic panel boundary in its path. :Out of Panel Haley is struck by the Electric Orb, "'POW!'" D&D Context * Cure Critical Wounds is a 4th level spell that heals 4d8 + 1 point per caster level (max +20). * The paladin's Lay on Hands ability heals hit points equal to the paladin's level times his charisma modifier. * Fireball, the classic attack spell, is 3rd level and does 1d6 fire damage per level in a 20 ft radius area of effect. * Burning Hands is a 1st level spell that does 1d4 damage per level (max 5d4). * Invisibility is a 2nd level spell that makes the caster invisible, but they become visible again if they attack. * As Haley notes, Electric Orb is not in the core rules. It was published in the 2001 Tome and Blood: A Guidebook to Wizards and Sorcerers for D&D 3.0. It is a 4th level spell dealing 1d6 points of electrical damage per level, to a maximum of 15d6, additionally magnetizing metallic items for a time. A similar spell, Orb of Electricity, is found in the 2004 Complete Arcane sourcebook for D&D 3.5. * Favored Enemy is a class feature that allows a ranger to get bonuses to damage and skill checks against a particular type of enemy. "Airborne Tramp" is, obviously, not an actual enemy type a ranger can select. Haley would need to pick "humanoid (human)" as a favored enemy to get bonuses against Samantha and Tsukiko, and "outsider (chaotic)" or "outsider (evil)" for Sabine. Trivia * The title refers to the colloquial Fourth Wall. A character "breaks" the fourth wall when it acknowledges its medium by addressing the audience directly. Tsukiko (and Haley) just broke the third wall, the one to the right of the stage. In the next comic, Haley actually breaks the fourth wall. * Haley buys arrows from a duergar (grey dwarf) arms dealer in a flashback in panel eleven of strip #531 (Wake Up Call to Action); it's likely that the arrows used here are supposed to be those +1 Flaming Arrows. * Haley's line in panel five references her battle with Samantha in strip #160 (The Jell-O Pit Wasn't Available) and Sabine in strip #62 (Heavy Metals). * Haley's line in panel six is a reference to her appearance as Dark Mistress Shadowgale in strip #93 (Teenage Wasteland). External Links * 518}} View the comic * 68531}} View the discussion thread Category:Uses Electric Orb Category:Uses Fireball Category:Uses cure wounds Category:Uses Cure Critical Wounds Category:Uses Invisibility Category:Uses Lay On Hands Category:Uses Tumble Category:Uses Sneak Attack Category:Uses Burning Hands Category:Uses Fly Category:Haley Leads the Resistance